Radiohead Returning To The Road In 2008Radiohead will embark on a rare international tour starting next spring, Billboard.com can reveal. Although details are still sketchy, expect the British alternative rock band to play multiple markets, in sizeable venues.

“We plan to tour next year, starting in May through to probably the end of the year. With lots of holidays in that period,” says Bryce Edge of Courtyard Management, the firm that manages the band.

“At the moment we are talking with our agents in North America and for the rest of the world, trying to get a schedule which works for the band and works financially,” he adds.

An extended run will be a treat for dedicated fans who missed Radiohead’s summer 2006 dates, which landed in a handful of European and north American markets.

“They toured last summer almost for creative reasons, definitely not for financial reasons. And I think they quite enjoyed it,” explains Edge. “The next set of touring will be slightly larger-scale venues.”

Frontman Thom Yorke is anything but a fan of international treks and, in the past, the singer has raised concerns over the effects of touring on climate change.

“He likes to do shows, but the whole business of schlepping around the world is not top of his list of favorite things to do,” adds Edge. “He really enjoys playing to the fans — it’s just the process of how to do that which is the pain in the neck (for Yorke). They’re not road dogs. They never have been.”

Radiohead tore up the industry manual when they allowed fans to name their price to download its latest album, “In Rainbows,” released Oct. 10. To date, representatives for the band have remained tight-lipped on the sales performance of the studio set. Edge downplayed as “exaggerated” reports that “In Rainbows” had shifted more than 1.2 million copies, but admitted the average price paid was “probably pretty close” to £4 ($8).

“We haven’t analyzed the data yet,” he explains. “The servers are still functioning on delivering the records to people. When that calms down a bit, we will have a moment to analyze and drag the data off. “

And he was philosophical on reports that the illegal platforms have delivered millions of units. “The fact of the matter is, as soon as a record goes into manufacture, or advance copies are released to the press, it goes onto BitTorrent,” he says. “That is the fact. What we are dealing with is a situation that we always dealing with.”

A label deal has yet to be struck for the physical release of the album, a spokesperson for the band says.